Minutes of Forty-second Annual
Meeting 623
Mr. Smith thinks no executor has been
appointed up to this time.
He will learn definitely in regard to
this soon. If the Society
thinks it of sufficient importance to acquire the
Mound, now is
the time to institute active measures.
(Signed) B. F. PRINCE,
Chairman.
FORT LAURENS PARK
The situation at Fort Laurens Park, one
mile east of Bolivar,
Ohio, has been unsatisfactory for a long
time. Very little has
been done since the building, some years
ago, of the park house,
which got in very bad repair, until it
was learned early this sum-
mer that there was a balance of about
$1400.00 of the last appro-
priation by the State Legislature, which
remained unexpended.
Steps were taken at once to have these
funds used for repair of
the park building and work on the
driveways. This work was
done under direction of Mr. Harry Lash,
local member of the
committee at Bolivar, in conjunction
with Mr. Clarence J. Lebold,
of Bolivar, who was recently nominated
for membership on the
committee to fill the vacancy caused by
the death of Colonel W.
L. Curry.
The last Legislature made an additional
appropriation for the
improvement of the Park through the
efforts of the Representa-
tive, Charles T. Greenlee, of Tuscarawas
County, which will put
the Society in position to lay the Park
out with some landscape
gardening and beautify it with trees.
It is also planned to employ a caretaker
at a moderate salary
who will occupy the park house and keep
it in respectable condi-
tion. After the proposed improvements
are made, funds should be
provided for the erection of an
appropriate monument near the
highway and the site of the fort,
bearing an inscription setting
forth briefly the history of Fort
Laurens. It is probable that
aid could be secured from the United
States Congress to this end.
(Signed) EDWIN D. MOODY
REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON FORT MEIGS,
FORT MIAMI AND FALLEN TIMBERS
FORT MEIGS:
While the restoration of Fort Meigs was
initiated by the
people of the neighboring Village of
Perrysburg, the preservation
and maintenance of this historic site is
in charge of a special com-
624 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
mittee appointed by the Governor, known
as the Fort Meigs Com-
mission.
The property is in fine shape and is
well cared for. It at-
tracts thousands of visitors during each
of the four seasons. The
beautiful granite shaft, erected by the
State of Ohio, and the
more modest, but very appropriate
monument to the memory
of the "Pittsburgh Blues,"
erected by the Pennsylvania Historical
Society, attract much favorable comment.
It is to be regretted that the county
authorities, in earlier
days, deemed it necessary to construct a
highway through the
center of this reservation, and to cut
the otherwise well preserved
ramparts in two places.
FORT MIAMI:
The acquisition of the site of this old
Fortress and its com-
plete restoration is the work of the
future. The conditions here
are the same as set forth in our last
report.
FALLEN TIMBERS:
During the past year, much has been
accomplished, looking to
the proper monumenting of this
Battlefield and at the same time
honoring the memory of Anthony Wayne,
the great soldier and
statesman.
Under date of March 30th, 1927, a
contract was entered into
with Bruce Wilder Saville, of New York,
for the design of a
granite pedestal, properly embellished
with bronze reliefs on the
four sides and erected in the center of
the 2.29-acre tract, hereto-
fore donated to the State of Ohio, by
Miss Clarissa Cook Moor,
owner of the adjoining property.
The total appropriations by the
Legislature, prior to the exe-
cution of this contract, and available
for this work, aggregated
$17,000. Of this amount, there has been
expended, to date, ap-
proximately $12,000 for the monument and
$5,000 for a driveway
to the site. This latter work was
undertaken by the State High-
way Department and is not yet completed.
The monument was erected in November,
1927, and is pro-
nounced by all, who have seen it, to be
a most beautiful work of
art. The four bronze reliefs represent:
(a) "The Eternal Conflict
between the Whites and the Indians";
(b) "The Battle of Fallen
Timbers"; (c) "The Treaty at
Greenville"; and (d) "Peace at
Last." The four inscriptions in
bronze lettering read as follows:
Minutes of Forty-second Annual
Meeting 625
Front Inscription:
"To General Anthony Wayne, who
organized the
'Legion of the United States' by order
of President
Washington and defeated Chief Little
Turtle's
Warriors here at Fallen Timbers, August 20,
1794.
This victory led to the Treaty of
Greenville, August
3, 1795, which opened much of the
present State of
Ohio to white settlers."
Left Inscription:
"In memory of the white settlers
massacred 1783-
1794."
Back Inscription:
"To Chief Little Turtle and his
brave Indian War-
riors."
Right Inscription:
"To the Pioneers of Ohio and the
great Northwest."
As indicated in a previous report, it is
the plan of your
Committee to surmount the granite
pedestal, now completed, with
a bronze group with Anthony Wayne as a
central figure, a
Pioneer Settler on one side and an
Indian Warrior on the other.
The estimated cost of this heroic
bronze, together with the com-
pletion of the landscaping, planting,
road and fence building, is
$25,000. For this work the 87th General Assembly
appropriated
$15,000 and it is the hope and
expectation of your Committee to
raise the necessary $10,000 additional
among the patriotic citizens
of Toledo. Meanwhile, we have requested
Sculptor Saville to
undertake the necessary preliminary
studies for the bronze group
in question.
Respectfully submitted,
W. J. SHERMAN,
Chairman of Committee on Fort Meigs,
Fort Miami and Fallen Timbers.
FORT MEIGS
The Secretary has also received from
George J. Munger, Sec-
retary of the Board of Trustees of the
Fort Meigs Memorial Com-
mission, a communication which reads in
part as follows:
"We have in our care and charge, on
the old Fort Meigs
Grounds and Park, which is state
property, a large number of
Vol. XXXVI--40.